Page 118 - sense-and-sensibility

in a much higher situation than the cottage, afforded a gen-
eral view of the whole, which had exceedingly pleased him.
This was a subject which ensured Marianne’s attention, and
she was beginning to describe her own admiration of these
scenes, and to question him more minutely on the objects
that had particularly struck him, when Edward interrupted
her by saying, ‘You must not enquire too far, Marianne—re-
member I have no knowledge in the picturesque, and I shall
offend you by my ignorance and want of taste if we come to
particulars. I shall call hills steep, which ought to be bold;
surfaces strange and uncouth, which ought to be irregular
and rugged; and distant objects out of sight, which ought
only to be indistinct through the soft medium of a hazy at-
mosphere. You must be satisfied with such admiration as
I can honestly give. I call it a very fine country—the hills
are steep, the woods seem full of fine timber, and the valley
looks comfortable and snug—with rich meadows and sev-
eral neat farm houses scattered here and there. It exactly
answers my idea of a fine country, because it unites beauty
with utility—and I dare say it is a picturesque one too, be-
cause you admire it; I can easily believe it to be full of rocks
and promontories, grey moss and brush wood, but these are
all lost on me. I know nothing of the picturesque.’
‘I am afraid it is but too true,’ said Marianne; ‘but why
should you boast of it?’
‘I suspect,’ said Elinor, ‘that to avoid one kind of affec-
tation, Edward here falls into another. Because he believes
many people pretend to more admiration of the beauties
of nature than they really feel, and is disgusted with such

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